Malone fell on the pommel horse in his first slalom and struggled on the horizontal bar, his specialty, and was unable to qualify for the all-around final. The top 24 skaters advance to the final, but only two skaters from each country can advance. Americans Frederick Richard (83.498) and Paul Judah (82.865) finished significantly higher than Malone and will officially advance to the final once the other qualifying sessions are completed.
Malone and Richards alternated between the top two spots on the all-around podium at the U.S. Championships and the Olympic Trials, with Malone finishing ahead of Richards at the U.S. Championships and vice versa at the Trials. The two skaters were expected to represent the United States in the all-around final, but Judah had performed well and was in contention to win even before Malone fell twice on the horizontal bar. Malone, who also fell on the floor during her final rotation, called her mistake a “stupid mistake.”
“What happened here today is over now,” Malone said. “There’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m just going to do my best for the team competition.”
Malone, the only member of that team returning to the Olympics, finished with 79.598 points, a far cry from the 86.350 he earned at nationals. Malone apologized to his teammates after Saturday’s competition, Judah said, adding, “He’s the captain of this team. He’s going to lead us in the right direction over the next few days.”
The U.S. men had a breakout season at last fall’s world championships, winning a bronze medal in the team event and three medals in the individual events, and they’ll have a chance to repeat that performance on a bigger stage here.
But Britain’s team score on Saturday is more than three points higher than the U.S.’s, and Japan and China are expected to come out on top, leaving the U.S. no higher than fourth place. Scores don’t carry over, so Malone and the U.S. team have a chance to bounce back.
In the preliminary rounds, teams are penalized one point per apparatus, so Malone’s low score did not affect his score of 253.229, but the U.S. team has always relied on his performance to earn top team results. In the first session, the U.S. lost to Great Britain, which had the highest team score (256.561) and the top overall score, Jake Jarman and Joe Fraser.
Malone, the 2022 world bar champion, also missed his chance to compete for a medal in his favorite event: His lowest score in that event (12.233) was well short of what was needed to advance. Now, his best (and maybe only) chance to medal here is in the team final, and the U.S. desperately needs him to perform better.
